Leaving the Hell of Spain – Living the Life in the USA

Chris Mosey lives in USA, and last year she and a friend flew to Spain to volunteer their help with the Scooby Refuge.  They also took 7 galgos back to USA with them.Meet Perico, the galgo she took back with her for her own family, and read her story.

‘I’ve been involved in animal care, health, and rescue most of my life.  I became hooked on greyhound rescue about 10 years ago.  I know what a difficult life an unwanted animal can have in the United States, whether it’s a stray on the streets, in a shelter, or awaiting adoption or death in a kennel after its racing career is over. 

I had read about the plight of the galgos in Spain and thought about how I could help, but I hadn’t seriously considered going over to volunteer until I started reading Scooby’s website (www.scoobymedina.com).

After two of us made the decision to go, I learned about G.R.I.N. (www.galgorescue.org), Galgo Rescue International Network, and how they would be instrumental in helping to plan and schedule our trip as well as make it possible for us to bring dogs back home with us.  G.R.I.N. delivers aid to numerous shelters in Spain and we were lucky to be a part of this by taking with us about 200 lbs. of medical supplies as well as suitcases full of leashes, collars, coats and blankets.  We planned to bring back several dogs so we took travel crates with us as well.

The trip took a considerable amount of planning because we would have dogs with us. Dogs are only permitted to fly certain times of the year because they travel on the plane with the luggage and the temperature can’t be too hot or too cold. We flew from Canton, Ohio to Atlanta, Georgia, to Madrid, Spain.

The airlines have very specific rules about types and sizes of crates because they slide into place and are locked in for flight. Dogs are required to have enough room in a crate to stand with headroom, and to be able to turn around and lie down. Extra-large crates are recommended for most galgos. Herein lies the problem: the airplane for the first and last leg of the trip, Canton to Atlanta, and Atlanta to Canton was a smaller aircraft than the plane taking us overseas so, to ensure that we wouldn’t be stranded in Atlanta with the dogs, we opted to take large crates (instead of extra-large) and hoped for the best.

We travelled over with the crates disassembled, and ended up trading with Scooby for several larger crates for dogs not going all the way back to Ohio with us. G.R.I.N has had, historically, a good relationship with Delta Airlines so we flew with them. As with everything, costs rose astronomically and it cost $550 per dog to fly them back to the U.S.

I had no intention of bringing back a dog for myself.  We had lost 2 greyhound boys in a year and a half and still had a 12 year old grey girl and a mixed pit.  I had planned to adopt another greyhound when I returned from my trip.  Debbie and I volunteered at Scooby for a week, doing whatever was needed, mostly shoveling and hosing and more shoveling.  At that time we saw hundreds of dogs, kept in paddocks of, maybe, 6-10 or more dogs together. 

It was that first day that I noticed a galgo who was frighteningly thin with some sores on him. In a kennel situation like this one can quickly assess how the social hierarchy of the pack plays out.  He was at the bottom of the pecking order and the others would not let him eat.  It was impossible to move him to another area because he would then be the newcomer, and would end up on the bottom again, besides, any new addition seems to upset the order of things and all of the dogs would find it necessary to establish their own spot anew.

Scooby is a wonderful place and the folks who work relentlessly to better the lives of the animals there are saints!  It seemed that they knew all of the residents by name..and that’s a lot of dogs, cats, horses, donkeys, pigs, etc!  Most of the animals will spend the rest of their lives at Scooby, and it’s obviously a much better place than their previous “home”.  I didn’t encounter one aggressive dog and, for the most part, they all seemed to be well adjusted and happy. 

I was smitten with the gaunt, shy galgo from the start.  I watched as the chubby dogs kept him from eating, and tears came to my eyes as he retreated to a hole he had dug in the dirt of the paddock.  I then told him that I would do what I could to take him home with me.  I was concerned that he wouldn’t survive the cold winter without some fat on his body.

My friend and I had access to a computer in Medinas del Campo, and nightly we would check in with G.R.I.N. who had plans for us from the start!  There were several dogs whom volunteers  had seen previously, wanted to adopt, but were unable, for whatever reason, to take them home.  We agreed to return to the states with Torrente.  And Silas.  And then Jacobo. 

Debbie had chosen a puppy, who had a littermate, for herself, and suddenly we were bringing back five dogs!  Oh, and there was Andy, too!  It was only a day or two before we left for home that  I had a veterinarian from Holland check out my boy to see if he was fit to fly.  After clearing everything with Fermin Perez, the president of Scooby (I refer to him as the King of Scooby),  I had a dog. 

Maria (at Scooby) hustled to get all of the paperwork completed.  There is no quarantine when bringing dogs into the United States from Spain, as Spain is considered a “rabies-free country”.  We got up at 4:30 am to load up the dogs and to get to the Madrid airport about 2 hours away.  We had all but one dog with us.  Torrente came from another shelter and we met him and his “person” at the airport, loaded him into a crate, and we were off.   We watered the dogs before the trip, as they were loaded first, with the luggage, and we wouldn’t see them until we landed in the United States.  It was a very long flight and we worried constantly as to how the dogs were faring. 

Upon finally landing in Atlanta, we collected our luggage and the seven dogs. Two of the pups were young enough and small enough that they could travel in a crate together.  Boy, what a mess they made!  We weren’t permitted to let the dogs out of the crates so we couldn’t even clean them up. We again watered them using bottled water poured into small bowls attached to the doors.  Getting through “customs” was actually a breeze since each dog had his own passport! 

At this point Debbie and I could not believe that we had just brought back seven dogs, and ALL of them had families waiting for them!  Four members from G.R.I.N met us as soon as we cleared “customs”.  One dog would remain in Atlanta and two others would fly on to Colorado to their new homes.  The other four would again be loaded onto the plane and go the rest of the way home with us.  None of the dogs appeared to be traumatized from the trip although I’m sure they were frantic to get out and stretch their legs.

It’s been over two months since we returned, and my Perico has made himself at home. He’s gained nearly 20 lbs. and is a beautiful, sweet galgo boy. 

Please check the G.R.I.N. website (www.galgorescue.org) for updates on the other “immigrants”.  Look under “The Magnificent 7 Come to America”.  I know it seems like a small effort, but it made a difference to those seven dogs we brought back, and it made a little more room at Scooby so that they can continue the good work that they do.

I paid for my flight to Spain (a bit over $900) and I paid for Perico to return. G.R.I.N paid for the other dogs and I assume they will recover most of their money through adoptions, etc. They do a lot of fundraising so that they can continue to give these dogs a chance at a better life.’

Thanks, Chris, that is a wonderful story, and gives us all much more insight as to what is involved with travelling dogs by air between continents. What amazing dogs these galgos are, coping with the trauma of life in Spain, then the refuges, then the flight, and then new homes in a country with a totally different climate and people who use a different language. I think that just about says it all for the fantastic temperament which rescued galgos in particular, and sighthounds in general, are born with.